Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 160 A desperate move

The first general attack of the Japanese on the headquarters building ended in such a hasty manner. Yue Qianli did not have much smile on his face. Although he killed and wounded thousands of Japanese, he also used up all his rocket shells.

Without a complete industry, they only rely on manual work and purchased materials. The supply problem will always be a giant hand strangling their necks. It’s okay to indulge in luxury occasionally, but they still have to rely on human lives in the future.

He now understood why the PLA would rather starve than develop the national defense industry after experiencing the Korean War;

The fear of insufficient firepower was deeply rooted in his bones. Later, he became the person he hated and summed up a famous online saying: If you are poor, you should use tactics to intersperse; if you are rich, you should use firepower coverage.

Yue Qianli still has the leisure to be elegant and pretentious here, and those who have obtained the casualty statistics want to see Xiu San die;

More than 1500 people were killed or wounded in just one general offensive, most of whom died from the coverage of rocket artillery groups. Although they still had nearly 3 people, their morale had been lost, and a significant drop in their combat effectiveness was inevitable.

"Hirose-kun, can you tell me what happened?

Why do the Chinese have so many heavy artillery pieces, and can they fire directly from the ruins on the rooftops? What kind of artillery pieces are these?"

Major Hirose had no answer to Hitomi Hidezo's question, but he was a graduate of the Army University after all, so he had some knowledge. However, he was not sure, so he could only say ambiguously:
“The Imperial Army has been hit by unknown heavy artillery groups many times before. We always thought that China purchased heavy howitzers from Germany. Now it seems that we have been deceived!

This should be a direct-fire cannon similar to a rocket, with a short range, very light, and a smoothbore cannon with low accuracy but strong firepower;

Considering that Yue Qianli studied in the United States, I suspect these artillery pieces should have been purchased from the United States, but in small quantities.

The reason why it was rarely used was probably because he didn't have enough shells, otherwise he wouldn't have allowed the remaining warriors to return safely."

Hitomi Hidezo nodded and said:
"Hirose-kun, I agree with your judgment. The Chinese do not have their own industry and rely on purchasing all their weapons and equipment. As long as the Imperial Navy blocks the coast, the Chinese will not be able to get any more equipment. No matter how good their equipment is, it will become less and less.
Yue Qianli probably has no more artillery shells, but the rocket launcher in his hand is exactly what the empire needs. This time, they must be wiped out completely. He must find a way to seize a rocket launcher and then imitate it.

Send a telegram to the division commander, report to him that Yue Qianli has a heavy artillery with high destructive power, and then ask for tactical guidance;

Yue Qianli has played his last card. The next general attack will be his death!"

Major Hirose agreed with this and believed that Yue Qianli, the nemesis of the Ninth Division, must be eliminated no matter what the cost.

At the 9th Division Headquarters, Yoshika Ryosuke also thought so after reading Hitomi Hidezo's telegram. Many things that happened before could be figured out, including the destruction of the 7th Regiment, which was all caused by the mysterious heavy artillery.

"Mr. Nakagawa, the Empire must get this artillery with great destructive power. Yue Qianli has been forced to play his last card. The Empire can still afford to lose more than 1 warriors. As long as we destroy the 527th Regiment and get the real mysterious artillery, it will be worth it even if we have to sacrifice another 2 warriors.
We will draw 35 men from the 36th and 500th Regiments, plus the last 600 baggage soldiers from the division headquarters, and send them all to Jianjun to make up for their losses. This time, I want to see what tricks Yue Qianli can come up with!"

Division Commander Hiromi Nakagawa wanted to transfer personnel from the division headquarters, so he quickly dissuaded him:
"Your Excellency, there are still a large number of elite troops from the 88th Division in the city. They just didn't attack the division headquarters because they couldn't break through the outer defenses of the 35th and 36th Regiments. If we withdraw 500 more men from each, the defense of the division headquarters will be too weak. I'm worried..." Yoshika Ryosuke raised his hand to stop him from continuing, and said in a firm tone:
"The Chinese are good at defense but not at attack. The division headquarters still has at least 3 brave warriors, and we can also get fire support from the mountain artillery regiment at any time. Even if the entire 88th Division attacks me, I am not afraid.
I have made up my mind, execute the order!"

Seeing that Yoshika Ryosuke had an unfriendly look on his face, Nakagawa Hiroshi wisely shut his mouth and turned away.

Yoshika Ryosuke was not arrogant. With the combat power of the 3th Division, 36 men plus a mountain artillery regiment huddled together, a normal army could not capture it. Moreover, the 18th and th Regiments were not far away.
Instead, he hoped that the Chinese would take the initiative to attack the 9th Division, so that they could use their firepower advantage to kill a large number of Chinese. This was better than piling up human lives in the headquarters building. The 9th Division's strength lay in field combat.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese, who had been quiet for several hours, launched another attack on the headquarters building. Judging from the intensity of the attack, the Japanese should have been reinforced. This made Yue Qianli happy, and he said loudly to Tian Yuanxi:
"The Japs have increased their forces again, at least more than a thousand people, they really think highly of us;
I have calculated that Yoshika Ryosuke does not have many people around him, so the time for a counterattack is ripe;

Send a telegram to each battalion commander, launching an all-out counterattack against the 35th and 36th Regiments. Don't be afraid of casualties, now is the moment for a decisive battle!
We must boldly penetrate and engage in street fighting with the devils, engaging in chaotic battles;
Now the main force of the Japanese has all left Shanghai, and there is only one 9th Division. We must fight with all our might and will not withdraw our troops until victory is decided. We must drive the Japanese out of Shanghai for a short period of time. I want to recover Shanghai!"

Yue Qianli's last sentence was almost shouted, but it sounded very powerful to Tian Yuanxi's ears. He waved his fist and excitedly followed the order.

The densely packed devils once again swarmed towards the headquarters building, this time without any tricks, just fighting for their lives;
The Japs want to tear the tiger's teeth out of its mouth, while Yue Qianli wants to destroy it from the center. It depends on who can hold out to the end.

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

Lieutenant Colonel Mitani rushed to the front with his command knife held high, and a sanitary napkin was tied on his head, indicating that he was ready to fight to the death with Yue Qianli;
After several rounds of attrition and replenishment, there were only a few old Japanese soldiers left in his brigade. He was lucky to have lived a long life, having escaped the call of death several times.

His squadron suffered the greatest losses in the last round of rocket launchers, so he wished he could kill Yue Qianli with his own hands. Hitomi Hidezo also gave them a death order that anyone who dared to retreat would be killed.

Now there was no longer any tactical use for either side, they were just fighting for their lives, the defenders' light and heavy firepower was constantly sweeping at them;

He had become numb to the casualties of his soldiers and just blindly drove them to attack the headquarters building.

Soon they rushed to the front. The casualties of the defenders were increasing, and the firepower was getting weaker and weaker. They could not stop them from approaching the exploded gap. This made Major Yonetani seem to see the hope of victory.

He raised the Nambu pistol in his hand and fired several shots in a row towards the second floor, not caring whether it hit or not, sometimes just to hear the noise;

When the Japanese soldiers of the Mi Gu Battalion excitedly rushed towards the gap, more than a dozen smoking explosive packs were thrown down from the roof. This made Major Mi Gu feel frightened. That thing was too cruel!
As a series of explosions sounded, the gap that was previously crowded with people was filled with corpses. Even those who were lucky enough to survive were stunned by the explosion and stood there screaming and shouting.

"Bagayalu, you are disturbing the morale of the army, go to hell!"

Major Yonetani fired three shots in succession, knocking down two people, and finally succeeded.

(End of this chapter)